May 23, 2013

Came across a tweet this morning from Andrew Zolli: "Reflecting on the intersection of kairotic time, 'urgent biophilia' and #resilience… there's a there, there…"

Oooh. Absolutely. This gives me another perspective for my book proposal on Coherence.

Kairosis is the literary effect of fulfillment in time. It is "the feeling of integration experienced by the reader of the novel or epic form"

Biophilia literally means "love of life or living systems." The biologist E.O. Wilson suggests that biophilia describes "the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life.”

And resilience is the ability of a system to bounce back from unforeseen shocks (I recommend Zolli's book on the subject.)

Integration and connection are the key words in the definitions for kairosis and biophilia; these concepts have coherence at their core. As I wrote in my last post, coherence is about moving from silos to systems, from independence to interdependence, from fragmentation to wholeness. It's about synthesis and integration... getting "all the wood behind one arrow" to create exponential power and forward momentum.

Our ability to be resilient depends on our ability to actually behave like a system rather than like isolated entities with our own egos and agendas.

Along these lines I recently wrote a post inquiring whether we in Western society were wired for failure. We are the philosophical descendents of the ancient Greeks, who celebrated individuality, autonomy and linear cause and effect. Contrast this with east Asians, who are wired to think more interdependently and holistically. I wrote:

So we’re at a real disadvantage in today’s highly complex society. The big issues of our day – poverty, climate change, spiraling healthcare costs, declining global competitiveness – require a new way of thinking, one that doesn’t come naturally to us.

And yet... there's biophilia, our instinctive desire to connect with nature and other living beings. There's kairosis, this gratifying feeling when the various threads of a novel finally weave together into a coherent, cathartic climax. We as human beings -- regardless of heritage, regardless of ego -- seek synthesis, wholeness, unity.

If we can transcend our differences and our need to run our own shows, this unity we inately seek will be our saving grace. If we want resilient individuals, societies and ecosystems, we must start here.